The Perfect Emotion (29 page)

We talk about our breaks and of course Lynn has to top everyone with the traveling she did, but we all listen knowing that she has come a long way from when we first met her.  She talks about how she is going to spend the summer abroad and we all smile in relief.  After she realizes she has gone on long enough she steps back and asks the rest of us to continue about our break. 

“Where’s Quinn?” I ask.

“She’s at Angie’s with Matt getting pizza. They want us to meet them over there, but we were waiting for Mags and Brandon,” Kelly says.

“Oh, maybe we should just go without them…” I try to hide the worry from my voice, but they all pick up on it right away.

“What happened?” Derek calls me out first. “They’ve been in my room for a while now and it hasn’t sounded pleasant.

“Let’s just go for pizza and give them privacy.  I’m sure you’ll hear about it later.”  They all accept my response and we head out the door to go to Angie’s.

Along the way over to Angie’s I text Reed that he should come too.  To my pleasant surprise he is already there with Matt and Quinn. 

We all have a great time at Angie’s eating pizza, but I can definitely feel the emptiness of Maggie and even Brandon.  There is also a little tension between Derek and Reed, even though Derek is clearly all about Kelly.  I just need Reed to understand that Derek only cares for me as a friend.  Reed seems to think that if Derek had the chance with me though that he’d jump at it.  I of course disagree, but Reed tells me that I just don’t know how guys think.  Laughing it off I pull him to me and kiss him against his temple.

“Well, luckily I don’t really care what any guys think.  I only care what one guy thinks,” I say into his ear with my arms around his mid-section stretching myself on my tiptoes.  There is a light drizzle of rain sprinkling on us even as we stand under the awning outside of Angie’s.  The others have already started to walk toward the dorm, but are walking slow to wait for me. 

“Who might that be?” He says against my full lips.

“Oh no one that important… just some guy who likes to play tennis, he’s going to law school, really smart, sweet… Oh, did I mention he’s really cute and has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen?”

“Let’s go Kate!” Quinn shouts across over at me from up ahead. She’s already said goodbye to Matt. Matt is out of sight and probably already back at the house.

“He sounds familiar… lucky bastard,” he jokes.  “I don’t like having to say goodbye to you twice in one day,” he says in between kissing me on my forehead, nose, lips, cheeks, neck and settling at my ear.  Shivers run up my spine with the breath of him tingling my ear and the words leaving his lips.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, beautiful girl.”

Once back at the dorm we all go to settle into our rooms except Derek heads to Kelly and Jenna’s because Maggie and Brandon are still talking.  I catch up on some reading and then settle in my pajamas. I want to be awake for when Maggie comes back. The need to go down and check on her is strong, but I know that they have to work through this on their own. I turn the lights down and get into my bed with a couple of my books. The time continues to tick by and my eyes are starting to get heavy. My head starts nod off, but then I hear a text come through.

Miss your lips. Reed

Missing more than your lips.
  Katherine

Sleep good beautiful. Reed

You too handsome.
  Katherine

I press my phone against my beating heart and blink in disbelief at how far things have come with Reed. I love how my heart races, my pulse rushes with blood causing me to feel lightheaded and excitement fills my chest when I’m with Reed. Actually, I don’t even have to be with him to feel this way. His texts have the same affect on me. Dozing off again my mind envisions the deepest bluest eyes.

“K-Kate, Kate.” I hear Maggie whispering. I spring myself up rubbing at my eyes to look at the clock to see that it’s after one in the morning now.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“No, no,” she sniffles in between her ragged breaths. She makes her way over to my bed and I scoot over opening up the blankets. She crawls in next to me laying on her back with tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s o-over.” I hug her close to me and we lay like that until we both fall asleep.

In the morning we both wake later than we should for our first classes, but manage to make it out the door on time.  Scrambling around through my backpack to make sure I grabbed all the right books and notebooks I come across a familiar piece of stationary.  Reed’s initials at the top flash at me through the mess in my backpack.  I pull it out and put in pocket though because I don’t have time to stop to read it right now.

“You going to be okay?”  I ask Maggie as we walk briskly in the cool morning air across campus.  It’s misty and gray out with a bit of wind. 

“I hope so.  I just hope we don’t bump into each other today.”  Her hair is pulled back and she looks a little more pale than she had when I first saw her yesterday.  The circles under her eyes drown her face out emphasizing her exhaustion.  “Everything feels raw right now.”

“I know that feeling, but it will get easier. I promise. Meet me for lunch?

“Yea, then I’ll tell you about it.”

“Only if you are ready,” I say as I hug her to me wishing I could transfer the sadness coming from her.  I’ve seen happy, sassy, mad, confident, and passionate Maggie, but I’m not used to seeing sad Maggie. 

We part our ways on campus to head to our classes and I can’t help feel a little sad myself. I’ve become used to Maggie and Brandon’s relationship. They’ve always had their ups and downs though. Brandon has always been more reserved and quiet and well, that is not Maggie at all. Their differences are obvious and I wonder if that is what it has really come down to. Two good people, but on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of personality. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Marco, but he was always the life of the party and that is definitely Maggie.

Just as I am about to head into the Business Center I pull Reed’s note from my pocket.

It’s a short and sweet note, but the effects on my heart are all the same.  Scurrying up the steps to my Accounting class I look down at my wrist to check the time and love how my tennis bracelet contrasts against my watch.  Two things that I have missed this morning… Reed and coffee.  There are definite differences between Reed and me, but we compliment each other.  As everyday passes I get to discover something new about him and our developing relationship.  While I’ve come so far I still need to push myself even further for him.  I’m actually looking forward to my therapy session this week.  Even though I had last week off from it I know I’ve done well.  Looking at my watch I only have a few minutes before class starts and this Professor is a stickler on time. 

I pass the elevators and head straight to the stair well practically jogging them two at a time.  Out of breath I stop for a moment to catch my breath and then continue to my class.  Once the door is in vision I straighten my stance because I see a familiar red head who seems to be waiting on me.  His smile is tight when he takes in my approaching presence and I confidently stretch my lips to show a brighter smile.  Andy has to know that we are just friends and that I am with Reed.  It was never a possibility for us and I need to own that.  I’d like to be friends with him because aside from him trying to pursue me I like him.  I’m not going to let him intimidate me or make me feel uncomfortable though. 

“Hi Kate, how was your break?”

“Hey Andy, it was great.  How about yours?”  I keep my head up and even move in to give him a friendly hug.  I can see this takes him back a little, but I’m hoping that he will see that I’m not wavering in the slightest on the type of relationship we will have. 

With no time to spare we head in and take our seats.  The class flows easily and I’m able to suppress my yawns, but I’d love nothing more than to grab a coffee.  Class ends with a small assignment for our next class.  I’m taking notes even after dismissal, but see Andy has made his way over to my row to wait for me. 

“That assignment shouldn’t be too hard. What do you think?” I ask him.

“Yea, I think it should be easy compared to what we had before break.  You want to meet up and work on it though?  Just to make sure.”  The sense of nervousness and stutter in his tone normally would make me feel uncomfortable, shy and unsure. I latch my backpack over my shoulder and head towards him to make my way out and look him in the eyes.

“Actually, I think I’ve got this one for a change. I jumped ahead over break going through some of it with my dad. It was a huge help.”

“Oh, okay.  You’ll be at our group meeting still, right?”

“Yes, of course.  So, what did you do on break?”  Andy starts to talk about his break and before I know it I’ve tuned him out because a certain dark brown hair, tall, athletic, blue eyed and handsome guy has my full attention.

Reed is just outside the door of my classroom on the opposite wall with one leg crossed over the other and one of his shoulders against the wall. In one of his hands I see a coffee. My eyes flick over him in delight as he eyes Andy with scrutiny. I bite down on my bottom corner of my lip more to tease him. He shakes his head slightly and mouths to me, “sexy”. All the while Andy is talking away in my ear never noticing who really has my attention. As we cross through the door I head straight across and Andy finally takes note of Reed.

“Hey, Andy,” Reed says smugly. “Keeping my girlfriend company?” I crinkle my eyes up and mouth back to him, “stop it”.  I know Reed just enjoys ruffling Andy up and probably does not see him as any real threat, but I love seeing him protective over me.  It’s endearing and sweet, unlike how Kyle ever treated me.  “Here I thought you could use this,” Reed continues and hands me the coffee.

“Ah, sure,” Andy replies before he starts to step towards the elevators.  “I’ll see ya, Kate. Let me know if you want to study at all.”

“Okay bye,” I call out to Andy and then turn to face Reed’s bright blue eyes. 

“He’s just a friend, you know?”  I say as I move both my hands to cup the warm coffee.  I’d like to chastise Reed more, but when he’s standing here looking gorgeous and inviting like he is I find myself melting under his stare.  He smirks at me first and then I do the same.  I crave his touch and in a blink Reed’s hands pull me into him.  I giggle lightly while I hold tightly onto my coffee.

“Yes, I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that he wants you more than a friend.”  His lips move from my forehead to my ear.  “Plus I just like to give him a hard time.” 

“Well, I don’t really care because I got both things I was missing most this morning… you and coffee. Thank you.” I rise up on my toes and kiss him on the cheek. He quickly moves my face with his thumb and catches my lips with his. Our tongues slide against each other and I moan softly against him. He shifts us so that we are pressed against the wall. Fellow students pass by, but I find I just don’t care. My body starts to hum as I twist and grind against Reed. He’s barely touching me and I can feel my body buzzing with the need to feel more. My hands roam and find their way under his shirt tingling against his bare skin.